Water and Sanitation Infrastructure in Developing Countries

Access to clean water and safe sanitation is one of the most critical challenges facing developing nations today. Rapid urbanization, resource constraints, and climate variability demand innovative, resilient, and community-centered engineering and planning solutions. This course provides you with the foundational knowledge and practical planning frameworks needed to address these global infrastructure challenges. You will begin by exploring the core social, economic, and technical dimensions of water supply and waste management. Through structured written lessons, you will learn to analyze local contexts, evaluate technologies, and design sustainable intervention strategies. What you will learn: Understand the foundational principles of water quality, public health, and sanitation technologies in resource-constrained settings; Analyze urban water distribution and decentralized sanitation systems suitable for informal settlements; Evaluate the financial, institutional, and political factors that influence infrastructure project success; Integrate modern climate-resilience and water-safety planning into infrastructure design; Apply community-engaged planning frameworks to ensure long-term system ownership and maintenance. This course guides you from basic public health concepts and engineering terminology through to complex planning scenarios and real-world case studies. It is designed for beginners, aspiring urban planners, development practitioners, and civil engineering students with no prior background in international development. Start building the skills to design sustainable infrastructure that saves lives and transforms communities.